As the ALDS shifts to Kansas City following the Royals’ Game 2 win, New York Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. is still feeling pretty good about his team’s chances of winning the series.
The 26-year-old, who was acquired from the Miami Marlins, knocked his first career post-season homer in New York’s 4-2 loss and was asked after the game how different the series feels now that it’s all square at 1-1.
“It still feels the same that we’re gonna win it,” Chisholm said. “I don’t feel that anybody feels any different. We’re gonna go out there and do our thing, still. We still don’t feel that any team is better than us…
“We had a lot of missed opportunities tonight, so [the Royals] just got lucky.”
The Yankees have continued to come up short with runners on through two games of the series. In Game 1, they went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and Tuesday, they went 1-for-6 in the same situations, leaving eight runners on base.
Despite New York’s trouble with the bats, Kansas City’s bullpen stepped up after faltering in Game 1. It allowed one run and four hits through five innings in relief of starter Cole Ragans.
“We scored six runs last night, tonight two. Had more opportunities than that to really make it a really big offensive night. Weren’t able to do that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said post-game. “Part of that is we’re going up against one of the better pitchers in the league tonight.
“We made it tough on him, gave ourselves a chance, but couldn’t break through with our bullpen. But that’s where we’ve got to punch through.”
Game 3 goes Wednesday from Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals will give the ball to All-Star Seth Lugo, and the Yankees plan to have Clarke Schmidt start the pivotal contest. You can catch all the action on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+, starting at 7:08 p.m. ET and 4:08 p.m. PT.